Pre-College Saxophone

June 16-22

For students completing grades 8-12

Designed for advanced high school saxophonists, this program provides a challenging environment in classical performance techniques led by Professor Debra Richtmeyer. Students will participate in an array of performance and learning experiences including private lessons, masterclasses, seminars, saxophone quartet, and saxophone choir. Students will have the opportunity to compete to be selected to perform on "solo night" with piano accompaniment. All of the students will perform in saxophone quartets and saxophone choir for the final concert on Saturday morning. Information on additional faculty will be released at a later time.

Qualifications: Students must be enrolled in private lessons. Previous experience playing soprano, tenor or baritone saxophone in addition to alto is a plus.

Here is what a typical day in the Pre-College Saxophone program will look like:

Debra Richtmeyer, an internationally renowned saxophonist and pedagogue, has been Professor of Saxophone at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign since 1991 and has performed as a soloist and clinician in North America, Europe, Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Thailand and China. She has performed or recorded as a concerto soloist with numerous bands and orchestras, including the Dallas Symphony Orchestra, The Slovak Radio Orchestra, The Scottish Chamber Orchestra and the Washington D.C. United States Navy Band. She was principal saxophonist with the Dallas Symphony Orchestra from 1981-1991 and with the St. Louis Symphony from 1992-2002. She is Past-President of the North American Saxophone Alliance and an Artist/Clinician for Conn-Selmer Incorporated.

Associate Professor of Saxophone Connie Frigo joined the UGA faculty in 2011 and is thrilled to call Athens home. She has worn many hats as a soloist, chamber musician, teacher, columnist, and founder of numerous festivals. She thrives on interdisciplinary work that allows people to discover the common ground that exists between disciplines.

Highlights of Dr. Frigo’s career include six years with the premiere U.S. Navy Band, Washington, D.C., a position she won as a junior in college; seven years touring nationally as the baritone saxophonist with the New Century Saxophone Quartet; and faculty positions at the Universities of Tennessee, Maryland and Ithaca College. She is a Fulbright Scholar to the Netherlands, where she studied with Dutch virtuoso Arno Bornkamp. She has been an invited guest artist at numerous universities across the country. She has served as Coordinator of Competitions and Program Chair for the North American Saxophone Alliance biennial conferences.

Frigo’s students have won concerto, young artist, and chamber music competitions at regional and national levels. At the U. of Tenn., she was voted Distinguished Teacher of the Year by the student body. At UGA, she is working with the Torrance Center for Creativity to measure the impact creativity can have on the learning and teaching of classical music.